wea annual review 2009-10

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WEA West MidlandsANNUAL REVIEW

09|10Registered charity number: 1112775. Company limited by guarrantee in England and Wales no: 2806910. Registered office: 4 Luke Street, London, EC2A 4XWDesign by Homer Creative

WEA West Midlands

4th Floor, Lancaster House, 67 Newhall Street, Birmingham B3 1NQTel: 0121 237 8120 Fax: 0121 237 8121Email: [email protected]

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“The tutor dealt well with complete range ofabilities and experience”

WEA Learner

Contents

An Introduction from the Regional Chair 2Regional Director’s Review 4WEA Provision in the West Midlands 2009/10 6Our Provision 7Health Education 10Second Chance to Learn 12Lifelong Learning for All 14Trade Unions, Digital Inclusion, Citizenship & Volunteering 16Staffing 17WEA West Midlands Project Funder/Donor List 2009-2010 18Branches, Staff Teams and Study Centres 20

WEA West Midlands - Annual Review 09|10

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This time last year we wereaware that difficult times wereahead for all of us. This year weawait the full impact of thecuts upon all areas of societyover the coming years. TheWEA will not be immune fromthose measures so the priorityfor us is how we cope withthem and how we preserve thequality of our work, be it inbranches or the communityprogrammes.

The Association has a long history of providinggood educational opportunities within thecommunity. The quality of our work is reflectedin the SDI status we enjoy as a SpecialistDesignated Institution, one of only ten in thecountry.

In this region we have staff with great expertiseand commitment to working to fund and deliverprovision across the whole area. A considerablehealth programme is just beginning inBirmingham to add to the list already in place. Instudy centres we have staff and volunteersworking together, as they do with the healthprogrammes, to support learners.

Across the West Midlands we have hard workingvolunteers devising programmes ofprofessionally tutored courses for their localcommunities.

This work has important benefits far beyond theacquisition of knowledge and understanding ofsuch subjects as the issues in politics, thedevelopment of opera, the development ofcooking utensils across the centuries andcontinents and the developing story of theStaffordshire Hoard, the last two involving a mixof branch and community learners at a numberof half day schools.

We know about the values people put on ourwork because they tell us in their feedbackabout what they have learned and how far they

have moved on. Just as the region is alwaysseeking new partnerships and groups of learnersto meet the needs of the community, thebranches need to be doing the same. Somebranches are embarking upon this work and aredevising new curriculum areas and are alsoattracting new learners from the WEA targetgroups.

This work can be kick started by applying forgrants from the Development Fund. I hope thatmore branches will turn their attention toseriously considering how they can add to thewidth and depth of their provision .Then puttogether a bid to the Development Fundcommittee to support their plan.

In the present climate the WEA cannot standstill. We need to be very mindful of finances andthe targeting of our work while maintaining thequality of our provision. It was the quality ofeducational provision that the WEA offered inthe early years of the 20th century which builtthe Association and that quality will continue tobe our strength in these hard times.

“In this region we havestaff with great expertiseand commitment toworking to fund anddeliver provision across the whole area.”

Laura Whinray, Regional Chair

An Introduction from the Regional Chair

WEA West Midlands - Annual Review 09|10WEA West Midlands - Annual Review 09|10

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Looking back on last year I thinkwe did a lot of what we are onthis earth to do, and we did itwell.

Our learner survey, some of which is summarisedlater in this review, showed high levels of learnersatisfaction. Nineteen out of twenty wouldrecommend the course to a friend- prettysignificant for us as most of our recruitmentcomes through ‘word of mouth’. Importantly, nineout of ten found that the course had helpedthem meet their learning aims. The commentsmade by learners give a glimpse of the value ofthe immense contribution made by our coursetutors.

We made real progress too with our bigpriorities- second chance and health education indeprived communities as well as sustaining ourwider cultural studies provision. The scope,impact and reputation of these programmesgrow and we are becoming less of a ‘best keptsecret’.

So – whilst it was a difficult year with quite a lotof stress, tension and anxiety about changes andpressures to accommodate more straitenedtimes – we can be proud of the progress made.

I am confident we have a strong platform for2010/11. There is a clarity and sharedunderstanding about the students we want towork with and how we can help change andimprove their lives. During the year we agreed anew team structure that will help focus ourefforts on the ground and provide specialisedback up in communications, data, project co-ordination, curriculum and quality.

In addition to that our voluntary members andgovernance add support, scrutiny and inspiration.The partnership between staff and voluntarymembers makes the WEA a distinctive andsuccessful organisation

In an uncertain and changing society high qualityadult education is more important than ever.‘Please, please let the WEA continue, despite thecuts!’ said one of the surveyed learners. Wedefinitely will!

Regional Director’s Review 2009/10:

Building a Strong Platform forUncertain Times


Pete Caldwell, Regional Director

“In an uncertain andchanging society highquality adult education is more important than ever.”

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WEA Provision in the West Midlands 2009/10

Last year we provided animpressive variety of coursesright across the West Midlands;in total we had over 950activities and well over tenthousand enrolments. Thesefigures include short coursesand visits as well as courses and‘tasters’ provided for localauthorities.

The tables below summarise what we did withour main contract with the Learning and SkillsCouncil (now Skills Funding Agency). Theyillustrate well our range and reach in terms ofsubject area and location. There is a mix thataddresses the longstanding interest in liberal artssubjects, the more recent growth of ‘skills for life’and a range of community education topics. Ourbiggest subject area, with high averageenrolments, is our health improvement physical

activity programme that is listed under ‘sports,leisure and recreation’. Geographically we havean effective presence in most local authorityareas; the policy of the region has been toconcentrate efforts particularly on the mostdisadvantaged areas (that are predominatelyurban) whilst maintaining a presence across theregion.

There have been some changes since 2008/09.Firstly there has been an overall reduction in thenumber of courses and enrolments (they were900 and 11,204 respectively in the previousyear). This is partly a function of changes in thefunding methodology and partly due to changesin our curriculum mix and a desire to keep withinour budgetary constraints. It does however formpart of an overall decline in the number ofpublicly funded adult learners that has beenwidely commented upon. Provision in liberal artssubjects has held up and skills for life courseshave increased; the decline has been in the widercommunity learning subjects. The average classsize has increased and is now edging towardsthirteen.

Geographically, we are doing less in Dudley afterdiscontinuing the Active Retirement programme(although the Tandrusti programme remainsextremely strong) and there has been adeliberate switch - mentioned above - towardsthe most deprived inner city areas, particularly inBirmingham and Stoke.

Our Provision

Table 1: WEA West Midlands Region, main contract provision, enrolments and class size by subjectarea, 2009/10

Course subject Courses Enrolments Average class sizeChild development and welfare 22 251 11.95Crafts, creative arts and design 88 1076 12.23English for Speakers of Other Languages 111 1316 11.95Health and Social Care 22 235 10.67History 44 715 16.63ICT for users 93 1066 11.70Languages, literature and culture of the British Isles 24 400 16.67Literacy 56 620 11.04Numeracy 63 691 10.97Other languages, literature and culture 16 201 12.56Sports, leisure and recreation 150 2167 14.69Trade union studies activist programme 27 343 12.15All subjects 764 9735 12.88

Taken from Learner Management Report 11/10/2010

Table 2: WEA West Midlands Region, main contract provision, enrolments and class size by localauthority area, 2009/10

Local Authority area Courses Enrolments Average class sizeBirmingham 179 1977 11.04Coventry 53 644 12.15Dudley 96 1433 14.93Herefordshire 57 768 13.47Sandwell 64 745 11.64Shropshire 3 36 12.00Staffordshire 71 934 13.15Stoke-on-Trent 77 1047 13.60Telford & Wrekin 57 840 14.74Walsall 5 64 12.80Warwickshire 4 36 9.00Wolverhampton 37 537 14.51Worcestershire 58 646 11.14All 763 9723 12.88

Taken from Learner Management Report 11/10/2010


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“Exercising the brain -learning in new ways”

WEA Learner

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Our regional learner surveyshows high levels of satisfactionand some pointers forimprovement.

We recently completed a detailed follow-upsurvey of those who had completed a WEAcourse. We telephoned 5% (571) of learnersasking a range of questions designed to find outwhat they had got out of their course and howthey had progressed with their learning.

The results showed high levels of satisfaction withour provision.

■ 96% of learners being satisfied with theircourses

■ 96% of learners overall believed their tutorhad been successful in supporting theirlearning

■ 95% of learners said they would ‘recommendthe course to a friend’.

In addition over 90% of learners reported thatthey had made progress on their course.

When we analysed what learners liked most wefound most referred to the tutor followed by thesocial and educational benefits of being with

other students. The caring and thoughtfulapproach of our tutors as well as their subjectexpertise was greatly valued.

Where improvements could be made they weremainly around accommodation, equipment andsome aspects of course organisation such ascancellations and dealing with tutor absence.Feedback on information and advice, particularlyon progression (where next?) indicated that wecould do better here too.


What Our Learners Say

“People so varied andeveryone seemed to geton well”

WEA Learner

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Health Education

As a region we are rightly proudof the contribution ourcommunity healthimprovement programmesmake to combating healthinequalities in disadvantagedcommunities across the WestMidlands. 2009/10 was aparticularly successful year withmany highlights:

■ In Dudley, Tandrusti entered its tenth year withwell over a thousand enrolments in over twentydifferent community locations

■ In Stoke, our well regarded CHEST programmehad over 800 enrolments working with a widerange of disadvantaged groups

■ During the year we consolidated our healthimprovement activities in Worcestershire workingwith deprived communities in several differenttowns.

■ In addition during the year we secured fundingfrom Big Lottery for two new projects. One is aninnovative action research project designed todevise and test out new approaches to healtheducation that are able to engage those unwillingto join formal courses. Big Lottery is alsosupporting a three year project that will build ourhealth educational programmes in inner cityBirmingham.

A priority during the year has been to promote thevalue of community-based health education as partof a wider argument about public health. InNovember 2009 we hosted a seminar for staff fromPrimary Care Trusts and Local Authoritiesdisseminating our work and encouraging them toconsider it in their own plans. Contacts made thereare being followed up across the region. Healthimprovement data drawn from learners on ourprojects was also central to recent submissions fromthe Association to ministers and civil servants.


“I manage to learn abouthow exercise affects thebody as well as doing theexercise in the classwhich is really useful.”

WEA Learner

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Second Chance to Learn

During the year we had nearly3,000 enrolments on ‘secondchance’ courses; that is provisionaimed to develop andencourage the educational skillsand progression of adults ‘withfew if any qualifications’. Abouthalf of this provision takes placein inner-city Birmingham mainlyin partnership with primaryschools and children’s centres.

Parents taking part find that they support theirchildren’s education, find or progress inemployment or move on to further vocationalor academic courses.

It is also pleasing that our partnership withUNISON trade union continues to flourish.Return to Learn (that started in the WestMidlands over twenty years ago) still attractsenthusiastic and dedicated tutors and studentsand benefits from good support from UNISON staff.

Tutors and managers put a lot of thought intocurriculum development and finding the point ofconnection with learners’ interests and

ambitions. Particularly successful this year hasbeen an educational project (supported by theDepartment for International Development)called ‘Think Global, Act Local’. This enableslearners to develop educational skills in thecontext of discussion and learning aboutinternational and global issues. It has been verywell received. The manager at one of ourpartners, the Northside Welcome Centre said ‘It definitely was the best workshop I have everseen delivered. Your methods of getting the messageacross, and keeping everyone’s attention andinterest were excellent’.

One learner remarked ‘I was discussing theworkshop with my thirteen year old daughter, andsaid to her why we should start buying Fair Tradeproducts, she replied, “Dad, I’ve been trying to tellyou this, at last you understand the importance!”’.


“The tutor motivates you to learn and helpedme understand what I’m learning”

WEA Learner

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Lifelong Learning for All


“Way the particular tutor runs the course –involves the group andencourages participationand you feel part of it”

WEA Learner


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The WEA continues to provideaffordable and non-accreditedopportunities for adults tostudy wider subjects such ashistory, literature, philosophyand politics. This is a particularlyvaluable part of our distinctiverole now that other providers,such as universities, are nolonger able to do so.

Our 1,300+ enrolments on cultural studiescourses in 2009/10 were mainly on WEA branchcourses and illustrate the richness of thistradition. Courses included topics as diverse asShropshire Towns, The Chartists, Greek Tragedies,The Irish Experience of Migration, African Artand Society, and Romantic Poetry. The ingenuityand dedication of WEA voluntary members in

sustaining and developing this work should beapplauded. Last year- for instance -Wolverhampton branch successfully ran 25courses with over 400 enrolments in total.

WEA Branches and members have also beeninvolved in local cultural partnership activities forinstances with museums, art galleries andlibraries. A good example has been Hereford’swork with the museum service - displaying anddescribing artefacts otherwise not available to thegeneral public - as well as Ledbury’s involvementin the town’s Poetry Festival. In northStaffordshire members are engaged with themuseum in educational work around theStaffordshire Horde.

The region’s annual Summer Festival, with arecord attendance in a new venue, celebratedour cultural education, taking the theme of thefamily and exploring it educationally fromdifferent angles. It was also the occasion for JohnCollins from Wolverhampton branch to bepresented with the Wendy Fenn award for hisoutstanding contribution as a volunteer in theWEA.

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We took part in a number ofAssociation-wide projectsdesigned to open up new areasof work. West Midlandscontinued to lead the Learningfor Community InvolvementProject (LfCI) that encourageslearners in finding ways toinfluence decision-making intheir local area for instance bycampaigning, using social media,and contacting MPs andcouncillors.

We ran a local project in Ketley (Telford andWrekin) getting local people involved in thedevelopment of a former primary school into acommunity centre.

Our trade union educational work has continuedto occupy a valuable place in the region and wemaintain strong partnership relations with the TUC,UNISON, GMB and the NUT. Jeff Fowler, who co-ordinated workplace learning left the WEA at theend of the year and new managementarrangements have been put in place.

In addition we took part in two projects aroundnew forms of volunteering: learning championsand learning revolutionaries. The latter reallyblossomed in Rugeley and Stoke with theformation of volunteer led learning circles on awide range of topics.

Work Around Trade Unions,Digital Inclusion, Citizenship &Volunteering

“Positivity, lots of creativeinspiration… veryinspirational”

WEA Learner


There have been a number ofstaff changes with a number oflong serving colleagues leavingat the end of the year:

Jeff Fowler had a range of managementresponsibilities and had led our workplacelearning for many years, Jane Essex was managerof the thriving Coventry Study centre, PennyWatkins was Study Centre Organiser inWorcester and Liz Boggiano worked as aconsolidated tutor in Staffordshire. In additionJason Smith, Accreditation Administrator, left atthe end of July. They all leave with our thanks,happy memories and best wishes for theirfutures.

In addition we welcomed last year Val Woodwardto work on the Community Research for BetterHealth Project and a new team this year of: ShajuBibi, Shanaz Begum and Yasmin Ahmed to staffthe exciting new Birmingham Health project.

Course tutors

In addition to the monthly paid staff weemployed last year 150 course tutors. The earlierreport on our provision and learner feedbackbrought out how much they are appreciated andhow the success of our activities hinges on theirfront-line role.

Tutors taught across a wide range and broughtspecialised knowledge and qualifications to theWEA. Some are practitioners and renowned

local experts in their teaching areas addinggreatly to the reputation and appeal of theAssociation.

The region has provided a number of staffdevelopment activities including support fortutors seeking recognised teaching qualifications,‘bursaries’ for Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment activities, subject and area basedteam meetings and a number of seminars,briefings and training events at the regional office.

Staffing

“The tutor, well-informedand enthusiastic”

WEA Learner

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Educational Projects

Government priorities for adult education affecthow much money we have available to offer thekind of programmes in the community that makesthe WEA unique. We therefore depend onalternative sources of funding to provide affordableprovision whilst meeting the educational needs oflocal communities. Over the year, we havecontinued to build a successful track record insecuring external funds to deliver a range ofprojects, programmes and research activities acrossthe region.

We wish to acknowledge the financial supportfrom the following organisations:

Big Lottery Fund (Programmes; ReachingCommunities, Awards for All, Research)■ Reaching Communities Programme: Tandrusti; a 5

year health and well being project targeted at Blackand Minority Ethnic (BME) communities withindeprived wards of Dudley Borough.

■ Reaching Communities Programme: CommunityHealth Education in Stoke-on-Trent (CHEST); a 3year project to deliver health education and physicalactivity programmes in health deprived wards.

■ Reaching Communities Programme: CommunityLearning for Healthy Living in Birmingham; a 3 yearproject to promote healthy living in Birminghamtargeting health deprived adults, people with no orlow qualifications, vulnerable older people and BMEcommunities.

■ Awards for All Lottery funding for a localcommunity in Dudley to learn about the principlesand practice of organic gardening (In partnership with Hillside Herbs) to enable themto grow their own food produce.

■ Research Programme: Community Research forBetter Health; a 3 year project to design andimplement community action research projectswithin the region to explore barriers to theadoption of healthier lifestyles.

Birmingham City CouncilBirmingham City Council’s Aston Pride EnglishLanguage Learning Project to provide accreditedESOL courses in the Aston Pride area of Birmingham.

Communities and Local GovernmentFunding from CLG via the Empowerment Fund toenable the WEA to shape the CommunityInvolvement educational strand to enhance learnerawareness of community development issues andprovide some of the necessary skills, knowledge andconfidence.

Department for Children, Schools and Families(DCSF)/ Department for Education and Familyand Parenting Institute (The Parenting Fund)Parenting Fund grant to deliver parenting educationprogrammes in Birmingham through a 'SupportingParenting through Adult and Community Education'(SPACE) project.

WEA West Midlands ProjectFunder/Donor List 2009-2010

Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills(DIUS) Department for Business Innovation & SkillsFunding to transform our successful partnership-basedhealth improvement programmes extending their reachand impact on deprived adults in Stoke on Trentthrough the development of new 'blended' course-ware using digital technology.

Department for International Development(DFID)Development Awareness Fund Mini Grant Schemeproject to integrate development education intoliteracy, language and numeracy programmes withininner city Birmingham.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council & NHSDudleyService Level Agreement to deliver health educationand physical activity programmes within health deprivedcommunities in Dudley Borough.

Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS)LSIS STEM Emerging Practice funding to hold CPDevents aimed at disseminating good practice in thedesign and delivery of collaborative organichorticulture activities.

NHS DudleyCommunity Gym project delivering health educationand physical activity programmes.

NHS Stoke-on-TrentService Level Agreement to deliver health educationand physical activity programmes within health deprivedcommunities in Stoke-on-Trent.

Skills Funding AgencyThe region’s core funding comes from ourcontribution to the WEA National Association’scontract with the Skills Funding Agency.

Staffordshire County CouncilFunding from Staffordshire County Council as part ofthe Adult and Community Learning PCDL Contract forprovision of first steps learning opportunities at Lea Hall,Study Centre, Rugeley.

Stoke-on-Trent City CouncilFuture Jobs Fund (via Stoke-on-Trent City Council).The project funded 3 people to develop and supportour health, physical activity and informal learning inNorth Staffordshire.

Telford & Wrekin CouncilService Level Agreement from Telford and WrekinCouncil for development and delivery of activeretirement programmes.

The Croft TrustSupporting liberal adult education in inner city areaswithin Birmingham.

The National Institute of Adult ContinuingEducation (NIACE)Supporting a project to embed electronic learningwithin selected curriculum areas through the CapitalMotivating E-Learning (CaMeL) programme.

UK Online Funding to support outreach work and ICT courseslocated at some of our sub-regional study centres.

Worcestershire PartnershipGrant funding via Worcestershire Partnership’s HealthImprovement Fund to develop and deliver a healtheducation project encouraging adults to participate inhealthy lifestyle programmes.

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Branches, Staff Teams and Study Centres

Study Centres:

Coventry Study CentreSt Paul’s Church, 346 Foleshill Road, Coventry CV6 5AJTel 02476 666625

WEA Stoke OfficeUnit 11 Vale Park Enterprise CentrePort Vale Football Club, Hamil Road, BurslemStoke on Trent ST6 1AWTel 01782 831911 Fax 01782 831911

WEA Worcester Study Centre (Angel Centre) Angel Centre, Angel Place, WorcesterWorcestershire WR1 3QNTel 01905 330 123 Fax 01905 330 099Email [email protected]

WEA West Bromwich Study Centre West Bromwich Community Centre, Gayton RoadWest Bromwich B71 1QSTel 07827 256 110Email [email protected]

WEA Telford Study Centre Ketley Community Centre, Holyhead Road, Ketley,Telford, Shropshire TF1 5ANTel/Fax 01952 614451Email [email protected]

WEA Rugeley Study Centre Lea Hall Miners' Welfare Club, Sandy Lane, RugeleyStaffordshire WS15 2LBTel 01889 578 817 Fax 01889 578 817Email [email protected]

WEA Branches:AldridgeAlrewasBurton-on-TrentCannock WoodEwyas HaroldHerefordKenilworthKidderminsterLedburyLeekLongton and PotteriesNewcastle and WolstantonWalsall Trade UnionWolverhampton

Contact with branches should be made through the Regional Office in the first instance.


CentralManagers: Maureen Russell, Harjinder Kang, SandraPeters and Balvinder BassraStaff: Jo Lowery, Sadaf Din, Laura Moreton, JillBreeze, Joy Follis, Karen Broadway, Alison Clamp,Veena Gogna, Lisa Havard, Tim Hollins, Stuart Lea,Julie Liviabella, Silva Petros, Chris Shelley

Admin and FinanceManagers: Amanda Owen-Meehan, ChrisBolstridgeStaff: Val Humpage, Becky Samra, Andrew Pardoe,Debra West

Projects, Research andCommunicationsManagers/Co-ordinators: Howard Croft, Iram Naz,Lucy Wilkins, Sheila Bregeon, Shaju BibiStaff: Jo Homan, Sue Blair, Val Woodward , ShanazBegum, Yasmin Ahmed

WesternManagers: Sheila Bregeon, Jan HallStaff: Sue Blair, Sue Taylor, Shaun Pritchard, HazelWallace, May Youett

Lifelong Learning for AllManagers: Meg HughesStaff: Chris Stewart , Sheila Farrell

Executive Management Team:Howard Croft, Iram Naz, Louise Williams, AmandaOwen-Meehan, Sheila Bregeon, Harjinder Kang,Pete Caldwell

Strategy Team: Clare White, Louise Williams, Sandra Peters, JanHall, Balvinder Bassra, Pete Caldwell, Sheila Bregeon

Staff Development & CPD Manager: Jan HallCurriculum Management: Maureen RussellESD Co-ordinator: Lucy WilkinsFinance Manager: Chris BolstridgeEducational Quality Manager: Louise WilliamsRegional Operations Manager: Amanda Owen-MeehanRegional Director: Pete Caldwell

NorthernManagers: Louise Williams, Clare WhiteStaff: Liliya Balanyuk, Alan Baxter, Linda Harrington,Janet Henson, Fleur Parker, Chris Stewart, RachelTrpeski, Sam Wright

Trade Union LearningManagers: Louise WilliamsStaff: Iain Geffen, Tom Rigby

wea annual review 2009-10

Documents

wea provision

wea targetgroups

community learners

alsoattracting new learners

staff teams

development fundcommittee

regional directors review

alwaysseeking new partnerships